Apologies everyone, the scores that I have embedded in these posts using Scribd seem be have degraded since they changed their plug-in. How annoying. Until I’m able to migrate fully to another service, you can still access the scores in much better quality over at my Issuu profile.

I’ve a whole backlog of String-y compositions that I’ve always avoided mocking up in virtual software instruments because I’ve never been able to get the Strings patches to sound right. Well I’ve been making friends with Logic Pro and the EXS24 instruments. I think it’s definitely getting there and would really appreciate some feedback from additional ears. I’ve been tweaking knobs and buttons for what seems like days now that I’m not sure I’m the most objective person when it comes to reviewing the results.

Anyway, here’s a little medley featuring bits of three compositions titled: The Story Begins; Arise, Sir and This Is Me.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

I write contrapuntally for parts so no block chords and most of the resulting harmony is a consequence of individual part-writing for the orchestra.

As an orchestral player I’ve really tried to use my experience of real orchestras to physically lay out my orchestra in sonic space. So if you were sitting in the audience listening to an orchestra in front of you, I’ve actually arranged the strings (from left to right):

This is some of 2009 in a bite-size audio morsel. Although I haven’t been writing full-time this year, I’ve actually ended up with a lot of music—many of which have not yet seen the light of day. I needed to prepare a montage of my music for screen for some music editors. Simple enough in itself, but as I started thinking more and more about which tracks to include, it was a total nightmare. So here’s what made the cut:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

On a little aside, I’ve been battling away in Logic Pro and the EXS24 instruments for a while now trying to model a good orchestral palette. I’m definitely getting there—particularly with the challenging espressivo Strings so brace yourself for a whole bunch of big tunes I’ve wanted to upload for a while but haven’t due to bad String section rendering. The top and tail of the montage above are a little taster of my developing String tuttis.

I’ve been working on some generic production music recently with the aim of licensing them out under the YouLicense system. Over the course of the next few weeks I’ll be uploading tracks that fall under a number of umbrella genres, themes and subjects. A YouLicense “album”. So from a Thriller & Suspense album, I’ve added the following track called Suspect Intuition. Minimalist; methodical; idiomatic and questioning.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

A while back I posted a sneak peak of some festive production music I was working on. Well, in between upgrading to Snow Leopard; my Sibelius installation and battling with ReWire and Logic, I’ve managed to complete the suite cues.

Under the umbrella title of “The Magic of Christmas”, there are five parts to this suite. They are fashioned to work together with varying characterisations of a single audio identity. The target use is in channel ident branding and programme continuation links.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Right from the offset, I wanted to find a way of not only posting original audio to this blog but also making available their orchestral scores for reference. Primarily for those who are interested and/or can decipher the complexities of music manuscripts. I’d been toying around with Sibelius Scorch but found the whole user experience a difficult nut to crack – I knew I didn’t want to ask my readers to download this relatively obscure browser plug-in just to view my scores. I had to look elsewhere.

I came across a little online publishing service called Scribd quite a while ago but never really made the association that it might be the perfect vehicle to publish these manuscripts online. So I’ll be making the first manuscript post directly after this.

I’d really appreciate knowing what you think. How could I improve this offering? Could you suggest any other web technology that could do this? In the conversion process performed by Scribd, it appears that the fidelity of thin score lines are compromised. I’m looking into a solution for this.

I really do not know what’s wrong with me at the moment. I seem to have swallowed a happy pill by mistake. I can’t stop writing jolly music at the moment. Could this cue get any more infectious? Featuring sleigh bells; horses; chimes; things that go ting and other things that flutter – it’s all in here. Is it all too gratuitous? Leave comments and let me know.

Enjoy the moment while it lasts:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

I promise the next few posts are definitely going to feature compositions of much darker moods.

Along the same lines as Comedic Antics, I’ve revised the previous Mischief Managed cue to incorporate some more ideas.

Here is the revision:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

This is a cue intended for an animation with no dialogue. It is written and orchestrated in the ilk of the old Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes cartoons where the music is often required to carry the slapstick and plot forward.

By far the most frequent comment I get from visitors and those who lend me their ear is that my audio samples are too short and they want to hear longer developed pieces. For a number of reasons—usually down to time and the fact that many are simply exercises, these samples are kept short. That said, SMN required me to send a longer sample track for panel review so I revised Comedic Antics in to more of a ‘piece.

Here is the revision:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

In time, I’ll work out a way to incorporate some of my longer-format works, including music for concert platform into this blog. However, first things first, I need to better organise my audio player. Coming soon…